shopping
Molto for the Masses
New Yorkers have ready access to Mario Batali's cooking (at Babbo, Esca, and Lupa). But suburbanites and expats now have an alternative to idling in traffic at the river crossings: Batali's new Molto Sugo regional tomato sauces, plus Bagno Modenese-a Chianti-balsamic marinade-sold exclusively at the Trader Joe's chain of markets, are headed this way after a hugely successful tryout west of the Mississippi. The southern-Italian spicy Sugo Arrabbiato sauce works on its own over pasta or, with the addition of a few clams, snapper, and shrimp, makes a quick cioppino. The Sugo Finocchiato sauce from Puglia is heady with sweet garlic and toasted fennel seeds (we like it with chicken or sausage, making a very hearty dish), and the Sugo Pomodoro is a basic tomato sauce that is a foundation for all of Mario's braised dishes. The sauces are, in fact, exactly the same as those made in the restaurants, using the same Italian components ("You can't make a good thing out of crappy ingredients," says Batali). To ensure quality control, he tastes every batch before bottling-and, he says, he's already rejected one. Unfortunately, there's no Trader Joe's (yet) in New York, but stores are flourishing in Scarsdale, Westport, Westwood, Merrick, and other nearby suburbs ($2.99 at all locations). —GILLIAN DUFFY